Skin Deep: An Alternate Ending
by PrimaDonna24601
Summary: Belle never meets the queen, but she still comes back. This is my first OUAT fanfic, so I hope you like it. Started out as a one-shot, but is now a multi-chapter fic. Rated T for future chapters.
1. A New Beginning

**A/N: Okay. Before you begin, I wanted to let you know that I haven't seen a lot of episodes of OUAT. A friend of mine told me about the show and showed me clip of Gold and Belle. I then decided to find out more about the show. One of the first episodes I watched was Skin Deep. I absolutely fell in love with the Rumbelle story. I couldn't get enough of those two. Even though I knew that they found out each other again, after watching Skin Deep, I couldn't get enough of the fanfics where they ended up happy together, especially the ones that occur before the curse. So, I finally decided to write one of my own. Now, I know you're probably thinking, **_**why is she writing a fanfic if she hasn't seen much of the show**_**? Well, I just love those two much that I thought I would write my own happy ending for them. So, if any of the characters seem to get too OOC (which they probably will somewhat anyways), please feel free to let me know. I'm going to watch all the episodes soon, but I just couldn't help writing this story. **

**Anyways, my story begins right when Rumplestiltskin sees Belle returning to the castle. She never met the queen on the road. AU. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. All rights belong to ABC/Disney.**

He couldn't believe it. Belle had returned! As much as he had hoped that she would, he never thought she actually would. Yet, there she was, walking through the gate towards the castle.

After a moment, he ran down the stairs to his spinning wheel. He didn't want to look like he had been watching to see if she would return.

When she walked into the main hall, he had a hard time containing his smile.

"Oh, you're back already. Good. Good thing. I'm, uh… I'm nearly out of straw." He told her.

Belle could see right through his excuse. When she had just passed through the gates, she looked up at the castle and saw Rumple looking out the window. She was sure she had seen a smile on his face as he looked down at her.

"Hmm." She said as she sat the basket down beside the spinning wheel. "Come on, you're happy that I'm back."

"I'm not unhappy." In fact, he was extremely happy. '_Why has she returned? Could it be that she loves me?_' As soon as that thought came to mind, he realized that couldn't be it. '_No one could ever love a monster._'

"And, uh, you promised me a story." Belle then said.

He was right. She didn't love him.

"Did I?" He asked.

"Mm-hm." She said, not noticing a tiny bit of disappointment in Rumple's voice. She then took the thread that he was holding in his hand from him and sat down. "Tell me about your son."

"Oh…" He said, having a hard time keeping the sadness out his voice as he began to think about his son. "I lost him. There's nothing more to tell, really."

She could see the pain in his eyes as he talked about his son. He looked so sad. At that moment, all she wanted to do was take that pain away.

"And since then, you've loved no one, and no one has loved you."

After she said that, he really wondered why she had come back.

"Why did you come back?" He asked her.

She already knew the answer. She had thought about the answer all the way to town and back. She loved him. She hadn't been sure of it when she left for town, but by the time she was on her way back, she was almost completely positive that she was in love with him. Seeing the castle confirmed her feelings. She was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with him. She only hoped he felt the same way.

"Well…" She started, not sure if she should just tell him or if she should build up to it. Then without thinking, she placed her lips on top of his. Soon it became a passionate kiss.

Suddenly, Rumple began to feel something changing in him. He knew that his powers were leaving him, but in that moment, he realized that she was more important to him than his powers. And he couldn't believe it. Before Belle had come into his life, his powers had been one of the most important things in his life. Almost more important to him than finding Bae. Almost, but nothing had ever been more important to him than finding his son. Now, Belle seemed to be just as important to him as finding Bae. Then it hit him: why would Belle love him?

His powers had almost completely left him. He then broke away from Belle.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, his voice sounding panicked.

Belle became worried. Did he not love her? Then she noticed that he looked more human. Was he under some type of curse? She knew that if two people shared true love's kiss, it would break any curse. She had read about it so many times and had asked one of the older maids about it years before she had come here.

"I love you." She told him.

He began to become angry. "That's a lie."

"No it's not." She said.

"No one could ever love a monster." He said, beginning to become angry. He knew it was true.

"You're _not _a monster." She said, becoming angry herself.

"Yes, I am." He said, almost yelling at her.

She then stood up and stood right in front of him, towering above him. She had had enough of his self-loathing.

"Okay, I have had it, Rumplestiltskin!" She was yelling at him now. "I am tired of you talking about yourself like that! I know it's hard for you to believe that someone could actually love you, but it actually is possible! And my coming back should be enough proof of that!"

After a couple of seconds, she had finally calmed down. As she looked at him, she noticed that he was in shock. Suddenly, she became worried that maybe she had overstepped her bounds. She knew it needed to be said, but she felt like her tone had made it sound like she was overstepping her bounds. She was just tired of him always putting himself down.

Rumple couldn't believe what had just transpired. He wasn't mad at her, but stunned. He had never seen her get so mad. And he knew she was right. She wouldn't have come back for any other reason. Any sane person would have never returned.

"Rumple, I'm so sorry, I…" She began to say when she had sat back down.

She never got to finish her sentence as she felt his lips crash upon hers. This was even more passionate than the last one, if that was even possible.

This time, Rumplestiltskin let the rest of the curse leave him.

"I love you, Belle."

**A/N: So how did you like my first OUAT fic? Did they seem way too OOC or was that okay? Please give me feedback. Also, if anyone would like to be my beta for me, I am currently in need of one and this is one story that I feel like I really need it for. I want to write more chapters, but I think this could also be a one shot. So please, if you would like to be my beta, pm and get in touch with you as soon as possible. **

**Also, I'm sure you noticed that I said that the rest of the curse left Rumplestiltskin. That wasn't a mistake because I thought that maybe if he wasn't completely afraid to lose his powers, that maybe the curse wouldn't begin to resurface when he thought Belle really didn't love him. For some reason, I just felt like it wouldn't have left him completely if his powers didn't mean more to him than Belle. Sorry for my rambling, but I just had to get that out of my system.**


	2. A Visitor

**A/N: So I decided to go ahead and write another chapter. I know it's shorter than my last one, but this chapter is somewhat significant. This story will now be rated T for later chapters. Don't forget to R&R! As always, all rights belong to Disney/ABC. Unfortunately, I do not own any of these characters.**

It had been about a month since they had both confessed their feelings to one another and that Rumpelstiltskin had become a man once again. They both knew that it would take a while for him to become used to no longer being the Dark One. It had been a long time since he had not had powers and so for the first couple of weeks, whenever he wanted something, he would wave his hands and then remember that he couldn't just conjure things out of thin air anymore.

After Belle had told Rumpel she loved him, he had moved her out of the dungeon and into the bedroom next to his. Even though she could not move into his bedroom, he wanted her as close to him as possible. Not just because of how their relationship had evolved, but because he wanted to protect her. He no longer had his powers and he knew that people would soon find out about it. They would soon be coming for him. What he didn't know was that he would soon have his first visitor.

~o~

The Queen was having some trouble with a mermaid and knew that Rumplestiltskin could help get rid of the problem. That was why she was on her way to pay him a visit. As she arrived in her carriage, she could make out a girl sitting under a tree reading a book. She knew that Rumplestiltskin had acquired Sir Maurice of Avonlea's daughter as a servant, but she had not expected her to be outside. His previous servants had never been allowed outside. But then, none of his servants had lasted more than a few months.

When she reached the front door, she looked over to where she had seen the girl before and saw that the girl was no longer there.

After she entered into the sitting area, she noticed the girl was sitting in one of the chairs reading a book.

"Excuse me." The queen said.

"Oh!" Belle exclaimed, seeming to be surprised. Actually, Belle knew she was coming. Rumple had told her she was the queen and was most likely to coming to make a deal with him. He had then told her to pretend that he was out making deals with people and that he wouldn't be back for a couple of days.

"May I help you?" Belle asked the queen.

"Will you please let Rumplestiltskin know that he queen is here?"

"I'm sorry, but my master is out making deals and will not be back for a couple of days." He had also told her to pretend as if she was still only his servant.

"Oh." She had really wanted to take care of the mermaid today, but she knew she would have to wait. "Well, please let your master know, when he returns, that I would like to speak with him as soon as possible."

"Yes, your majesty."

The queen then stood up and walked towards the door. Before walking out of the door, she turned to look at Belle. She was already reading the book once again.

"Shouldn't you be cleaning something, Miss…"

"Belle, your majesty."

"Miss Belle, then. I'm sure your master would not be pleased with you if he found out that you were reading."

"No, he wouldn't."

Belle put the book down and got up to walk the queen out.

"I'll let myself out." The queen said.

When the queen was outside, she glanced up at the castle. She was surprised to see Rumplestiltskin looking out the window. '_Why would his servant tell me that he was gone when he's right here?_' She then noticed his skin. It wasn't that greenish-gold color that it usually was. And that could only mean one thing: Rumplestiltskin's curse had been lifted. And there was only one thing that could lift a curse as evil as the Dark One's curse: true love's kiss. The queen soon began to formulate a plan.


End file.
